Poop On The Cake By Lisa Brown

How many of you moms today are tired of trying to do the right thing and it just doesn’t come out the way you thought it would?

I’m having a little crisis.

I definitely don’t have what it takes in the department of cake decorating. I feel nutty for sharing this with you. But here it goes. My story of the month.

I felt like a failure.

My husband oversees my son’s Cub Scout outings and activities. Except for the cake decorating contest that they were having for their banquet. He kindly asked me to help our son. I agreed to do it without thinking about what I might be getting myself into.

Now let me stop here for a moment and tell you this.

Our kitchen is being remodeled and I don’t have an oven.

Yep,

How am I going to pull this one off I pondered for an hour or so?

I decided that it would be o.k. to pick up a cake from the bakery and let my son decorate it with frosting, cookies, donuts, and sprinkles. Because it was a sport related theme, I bought donuts and cookies to make baseballs, basketballs, and soccer balls.

I wanted to give my son some ideas for his cake and so I went on Pinterest. There are some awesome cakes.

I thought to myself I got this. I can do this.

So I tucked my kids into bed and ventured out into cake land. I set out to make sport balls and I made a mess instead.

As I was about to cry I informed my husband to never ask me again to decorate a cake.

He came to my aid and looked at my mess. With a straight face he reminded me that this contest wasn’t about me. It was all about my son finding his creative bone and decorating it his way.

The next day Justin decorated his cake and boy did he ever have fun.

But, friends I’m not sure how to describe what he designed.

Sport balls were covered in caramel frosting that screamed poop. The cake looked like it got hit by a baseball bat and landed in the mud. Who would eat this cake? Despite the mess, my son was proud. In his eyes he created a master piece.

At the banquet he set his cake among other fine cakes. I wanted to run away.

My kind husband looks at me and quietly says.

“I can tell who made these cakes and it wasn’t the boys. It was the moms.”

The winners won sport balls.

Guilt shot through me like a wave and I felt bad that my son didn’t win. I was mad at myself for not doing a better job for him. But none of this didn’t stop him from enjoying his cake.

At the end of the night my son was the only one who ate his cake. He smiled with joy and took pleasure in every bite. I’m so glad he didn’t get a stomach ache. After the banquet he thanked me for helping him with the cake.

My son’s gratitude helped me remember that this wasn’t about me.

It was all about my son having fun and doing his own thing.

I want to be more like my son. When he was decorating his cake he had fun playing, experimenting, tasting, and creating. He was himself.

He ate his cake in peace and he enjoyed every bite. He didn’t pay attention to what others were doing or whose cake they were eating. It didn’t matter to him. He was appreciating what he had done.

I want to be myself and enjoy the things I do. I’m tired of always second guessing myself or comparing myself to others.

It’s o.k. to be different. We can decorate our life with meaningful memories and sprinkle joy, hope, and love in our everyday routines.

My final words to you Mommas, we don’t have to measure ourselves by the standards that others have. The next time you decorate a cake don’t try to make it like somebody else’s. Instead challenge yourself to use your own imagination and create something from your heart. Don’t worry how it comes out. Enjoy the process.

Wonderful lesson learned, Lisa! I’ve had a few cakes remind me of what’s important, myself. You were the brave mama who allowed her boy to stand tall and be exactly who he is. There is no better recipe!